Hunting is an ancient art that at one time meant survival. Today, most hunting is recreational, but many hunters still eat the animals that they hunt. Before most animals can be eaten, they must be skinned and squirrels are extremely difficult to skin. In the past, squirrels have proved difficult to skin and this has led to a decline in the number of people who still hunt and eat squirrels.
In the past, squirrels were often cleaned by splitting the skin across its back and then pulling the two pieces in opposite direction. This is difficult and gets a lot of fur on the meat. Another method often used in the past is placing a foot on the squirrel's tail and pulling on the hind legs. This method is better, but the tail often slips or is pulled out altogether. This method also has problems with fur.